People are usually attracted to the crunchiness of chips when they eat them. There is a special thing about the crunch and whenever the crunch is missing, perhaps due to the chips going stale, it becomes awful to eat.
This will bring us to the question of how to keep your chips fresh if you need to perform different activities for different kinds of chips before you can maintain their freshness. If you want your chips to remain fresh, you need to keep them stored in a dry and cool location. If possible, take them out of their original package and put them inside a resealable air-tight bag or get bag clips that you can use to seal your chips inside the original package.
The Ultimate Guide to Keeping Chips Fresh
It is quite simple and easy to keep chips fresh, all you need is to understand the main tidbits and ensure that you are proactive in taking the steps that will help you protect the chips to keep them fresh all the time.
The Best Way – Keeping Chips Fresh
You will have to follow some primary rules whenever you want to store your chips. You should first understand that you can use these rules to store homemade chips, you don’t have to store them inside the refrigerator. Check the rules below:
- Ensure they are always stored in a dry and cool location
- Store them well sealed, it is very important.
- Use a well-sealed container to get the best result.
- You could also freeze them
- If you want to use a bag to store them, remove every excess air from it, and ensure you have no tears or rips on it that could allow air from outside to flow in. Seal it by rolling it tightly.
- Ensure it is sealed airtight,
If you ensure that you store them sealed using an air-tight method, then you are sure to store them well. Certainly, you need to open the storage container or bag if you want to get your chips out, ensure you close, and then seal it immediately you do that. The chips will be more subjected to air the longer you allow them to remain open. The external air will allow them to turn stale and their fresh flavor and crunch will be stripped from them. You are recommended to immediately seal your chip after you have taken the portion you want at that particular time.
How to Seal Chips So They Stay Fresh
You should check below for our recommendations for how you should seal the chips:
- The bagged chips should be tightly sealed by releasing any excess air from it and roll the top down tightly.
- You should get a clip for the chips and attach it to the closed bag. Use clothespin or paperclip in case you do not possess chip clips.
- Seal the chips into a Ziploc bag and ensure you seal well.
- The chips should be stored in an air-tight container.
5 (Five) Types of Chips to Always Keep Fresh
Let’s check out the five kinds of chips we will recommend that you purchase and keep fresh at home:
- Homemade chips
- Vegetable chips
- Tortilla chips
- Kettle chips
- Potato chips
Everyone has his or her preferences and tastes and each type has the purpose it serves and you will have to decide the one you want. There are other types but they are used simply as part of meals or for snacking.
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Homemade Chips
These chips are very great because they can be made anyhow you want. These chips are not like the regular potato chips as they are not made following factory processes. Fresh potatoes are used to make them. Slice them according to the thickness you desire, season them before you then either bake or fry them. Their tastes could be better than that of potato chips because they are fresh and made at home,
The chips will have a lot of flavors and will be fresh and crunchy. Homemade chips will also give you better chips than any store-bought chip option because no additive is added to them and the cooking methods and sodium can be controlled. You can control over the cooking process, additives, and seasonings from the beginning to the end.
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Vegetable Chips
Instead of being made from potatoes, a vegetable chip is made from vegetables. You can make vegetable chips in many ways, this is dependent on your choice and the kind of effect you want to accomplish. You can make vegetable chips by baking, drying, dehydrating, or frying. A vegetable chip is most commonly baked or fried to have an effect that is closely similar to a potato chip.
You will satisfy your crunch cravings better with a healthier option when you take vegetable chips although frying them could turn them bad like a potato chip when you consider the healthy options. The vegetables are sliced thinly, seasoned, and cooked by any means you want. Vegetable chips can be flavored anyhow you want it. Because vegetables are used in making them, they are considered the healthiest option of chips available.
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Tortilla Chips
These chips are not made from potatoes but instead corn tortillas. You will cut the corn tortillas and then bake or fry them. The major ingredients of a corn tortilla are water, oil, salt, and corn. Tortilla chips got their inspiration from Mexican chips that are corn tortilla or deep-fried flour. They are slightly airier and lighter than tortilla chips bought from grocery stores.
Tortilla chips can be used as dips for food such as guacamole, nacho cheese dip, nacho, and some other toppings. They can also be added to things such as taco soup or taco salad. Tortilla chips are very versatile because instead of seasoning them to a particular flavor, they are salted lightly though they can also be flavored lightly. Tortilla chips could also be red or blue based on the corn within the tortillas.
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Kettle Chips
When you fry kettle chips, you will find out that their potato flavor and texture are much stronger than that of potato chips that will be considered below. Kettle chips are fried inside a deep kettle containing hot oil while a process called continuous fry is used to fry potato chips. You will usually fry kettle chips inside the kettle in batches for a specific time.
You will then pull them out to fry the next batch. Kettle chips have more similarities to fried potatoes after being fried. You can also season and flavor it to any taste of your choice, you will get varying shapes and thicker chips.
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Potato Chips
These chips were originally the version of the first chip with other types being created from potato chips inspiration. Potato chips are still being purchased as snacks popularly across the globe. Potato chips are not popular because they are healthy but because almost everyone that eats them loves their flavors, their crunchiness, the chance to choose the specific flavor, and the simplicity involved in eating them. Though they are not nutritious, they comprise up to 40% of the snack foods eaten. They have more popularity than some other chips and pretzels or popcorn.
How to Store Any Type of Chip
Chips only become stale after some weeks that you have made them, however, there are storage methods and you need to know the tricks and tips about the best options. You could enjoy your chips for about 2 months if you do it properly. You could also possibly freeze them if that is what you want.
The overall process of storage does not need to be changed based on the type of chip, irrespective of if it is a kettle, vegetable, tortilla, or homemade, these tips can be used for all of them.
Related Questions
Can chips go bad? Can you eat expired chips?
The best-by date seen on your chips is to help guarantee freshness, this is not an indication for expiration. It means your chips can be taken past this date but the freshness can no longer be guaranteed. If you have properly stored the chips through our steps or you froze them properly, the freshness will be maintained for a longer time, more than the date on their package.
Stale chips do not signify rotten or bad, it only means that their freshness and crisp flavor are no longer held. You cannot be harmed for eating stale chips, it is your choice to eat or not to eat them. Furthermore, you could use the stale chips inside of throwing them away by cooking with chips.
Can you freeze chips?
Potato chips can be frozen if you want to but you don’t have to freeze them if you can follow all of our tips. Check below for how you can freeze them:
- If your chips are already opened, tightly seal them and put them inside the freezer bag.
- Put them inside the freezer.
- The chips can stay inside your freezer for about one whole year.
- You don’t need to extensively thaw or defrost them when you want to use them because they didn’t fully freeze.
- Chips can be eaten cold or you could allow them to stay outside the freezer.
In case you stay in an area that is subjected to high levels of humidity, freezing the chips is a wonderful option. The freezer will help to keep your chips in a dry and cool place where it will not harm them.
